In January, when Trump first received the advice to start preparing for COVID-19, the American people received no warning and no recommendations from their president; the situation has worsened ever since. President Trump and his administration hurt the economy beyond measure, ignored medical experts, raised the unemployment rate similar to the rate during the Great Depression, all while focusing on reelection in November over the health and safety of the American people.

Rereading President Trump’s twitter thread uncovers a common theme of praising the American economy and all the improvements since his election. However, if you look at the facts, the economy has steadily declined since February. The President spreading these lies encourages distrust from the American people, but why would we trust someone who clearly does not value our health and safety? By not putting a national mask mandate or nationwide shut down in action, Trump hurt the economy more than he has helped it. While the Trump administration believes shut down orders caused the failure of the economy, COVID-19 struck fear in Americans. So, with the virus spiking again, the economy will continue to suffer. Whereas if President Trump had issued a nationwide shutdown and allotted practical recovery time, the economy would have improved quicker. 

Countries like New Zealand who implemented stay at home orders and mask mandates have had significantly less COVID-19 cases than the United States. New Zealand has had 1,702 confirmed cases and 22 deaths while the U.S. has had 6.06 million confirmed cases and 184,000 deaths. The Trump Administration’s refusal to implement a mask mandate or nationwide lockdown has greatly contributed to these high numbers which show no sign of slowing down. He went as far as to praise Georgia governor Brian Kemp on his reopening plan in April, Georgia’s absence of coronavirus precautions caused them to join the top five in COVID-19 infections within the United States. 

Despite the ongoing global pandemic, Donald Trump and his administration remain focused on his reelection campaign in November, hence the questionable national security decisions. By making choices his supporters would approve of, Trump put the rest of Americans in danger. Trump has also continued to hold election rallies in crowded cities with no mask mandates or safety precautions. One notable rally in Tulsa, OK caused a spike within the city after Trump staffers tested positive for COVID and continued to work the day of the event. 

While Donald Trump continues to try to salvage his election campaign, the unemployment rate continues to rise, reaching rates not seen since the Great Depression. Not only did the Trump Administration fail to prevent layoffs they also failed to help small businesses that employ 50% of all Americans. Despite the push by the House Democrats to increase unemployment benefits for Americans, thousands will stop receiving the $600 a week they depended on for essentials like rent, food, and utilities. By transferring control of COVID-19 data to his administration, Trump also took away the CDC’s power to report accurately and has slowed down testing to report lower numbers to further his election campaign. 

While the Trump administration has worked hard to spread lies about the greatness of the American nation throughout this pandemic, the facts show that President Trump has entirely failed the American people. The fear of losing his title in November drove the Trump administration to ruin the economy, ignore medical experts, continue a reelection campaign, and drive the US unemployment to levels we have not seen since the Great Depression. While supporters may want to justify Trump’s actions by calling COVID-19 a hoax, the Trump administration dropped the proverbial ball in their response to what is now a COVID-19 pandemic.